


Yellow Sweet Peas

by DecadentCollectionDestiny



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Death, F/F, Friendzone, Hanahaki Disease, I finally managed to title a fic with something other than a song lyric, Kang Jaehee Good Ending (Mystic Messenger), Kang Jaehee's Route (Mystic Messenger), Language of Flowers, Mentioned Kim Jihyun | V, One-Sided Attraction, RFA Party (Mystic Messenger), Sad Ending, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:01:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23902741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DecadentCollectionDestiny/pseuds/DecadentCollectionDestiny
Summary: Kang Jaehee is beyond happy to meet MC at the RFA party. But MC doesn't seem herself. Is there something she's not telling her?
Relationships: Kang Jaehee & Main Character (Mystic Messenger)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 35





	Yellow Sweet Peas

“Found you… MC.” Jaehee squeezed her way through the crowd of partygoers and stood in front of MC.  
MC smiled. “Hello, Jaehee.” Her voice was soft and quiet, exactly like Jaehee had remembered it from their many phone calls. She beamed in return hearing it.  
“Hello, MC.” After a moment’s awkward hesitation, she opened her arms. MC did the same, and they embraced each other. Jaehee felt MC’s head on her shoulder.  
“I’m so glad to see you,” she said.  
“You too,” replied Jaehee as they pulled away from the hug. She looked back at the large room teeming with guests that MC had gathered. “Look at all of the people here,” she said. “It’s because of you.”  
MC shook her head. “The rest of RFA put in a lot of work too.”  
“True,” Jaehee agreed, “But we couldn’t have done it without you. You did so well.”  
MC’s smile grew wider. “Thank you.”  
Jaehee reached up to adjust her glasses, only to remember she wasn’t wearing them anymore. Because of MC, of course. “...I really don’t know what to say,” she said. “I am very happy right now. Very happy to finally meet you.”  
MC tucked her long brown hair behind her ear. “Me too. It… it feels like I’ve waited forever for this day.”  
Jaehee nodded. “I understand what you mean. It’s the first time I’m meeting you… but it feels like we’re old friends.”  
MC cleared her throat. “Exactly.”  
“Do you remember… all the conversations we had?” Jaehee asked, remembering them herself. She’d never met someone she could talk with so easily as MC. She thought that now.  
“Of course I do,” MC replied. “I’ve really enjoyed them.”  
Jaehee smiled. “Me too.” She looked up and at MC’s eyes. “I really wanted to see you. I mean it.”  
MC fiddled with her RFA badge, but kept her eyes on Jaehee’s. “I’ve been looking forward to seeing you for a while.”  
Jaehee smiled down at her shoes. “I was so curious what you’d be like that I barely slept yesterday.” She bit her lip and looked back up at MC. “But seeing you in person like this… I actually feel more excited.”  
MC’s eyebrows raised. “Really?” she asked meekly.  
“Yes…” Jaehee smoothed out her skirt. “Feeling excited at seeing a girl, how strange.” It was certainly something she’d never felt before. She supposed this was what they called “platonic love”.  
MC’s quiet laughter turned into a few coughs. “I know what you mean.”  
“Hm…” Jaehee mused. “Love between a man and a woman is beautiful… but I think a friendship between two women can be just as powerful.”  
MC’s gaze fell to the floor, and she seemed about to say something when she cleared her throat again. And again. She covered her mouth with her hand and began to cough more violently.  
Jaehee’s eyebrows knit together. “MC? Are you okay?”  
MC emitted a final retching sound, then lowered her hand from her face. “Yes… I’m fine. I just… I think I might be coming down with something.” She brushed her fist against her hip, as if searching for a pocket. Realizing her dress had none, she joined her hands behind her back.  
“Oh dear… I’m so sorry to hear that,” Jaehee said. “Do you need some water?”  
MC shook her head. “Don’t worry. I’m fine.”  
“Alright…” Jaehee started to reach for her glasses again, but stopped herself. “Anyway… I’d like to become better friends with you.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “This is a bit awkward, but I look forward to being friends with you.”  
The smallest smile Jaehee had ever seen slipped onto MC’s face. “I’m… glad you feel that way.” She cleared her throat again.  
Jaehee couldn’t help giving MC a concerned look. Nonetheless, she continued. “Oh,” she said. “And I knew Mr. Han would try to recruit you, from the moment I heard he took you somewhere.”  
MC nodded silently.  
“But more than that…” Jaehee continued. “I have a better proposal to make.”  
“Oh?” MC blinked. “What is it?”  
“Well…” Jaehee said. She began to describe her desire to stop working for large corporations and shape a new place to truly be herself, a desire that MC herself had sparked in her, but MC’s discomfort was becoming apparent. She rubbed her throat, grimacing slightly, and appeared to rasp with each breath, the whole time keeping one hand behind her back.  
“Ah - MC,” Jaehee interrupted herself. “Are you sure you’re okay?”  
MC seemed to catch herself and let her hand drop to her side. “Yes, I’m fine,” she said hurriedly. “What were you saying?”  
“I…” Jaehee continued hesitantly. “I was saying that… if you like… I’d like to create this new space with you. So that… it’s not my small space, but ‘our’ space.” She looked eagerly into MC’s eyes. “All you need to contribute is your ideas and positive mind. It’ll be at least 20 times more fun than being an assistant.” And how fun it would be, Jaehee thought, doing what she loved with her best friend at her side.  
MC’s eyes were sparkling looking back into Jaehee’s, and she swallowed hard.  
“MC… Won’t you create a space of our own with me?” Jaehee reached forward, took MC’s hand, and slipped a brass key into her palm.  
“Will you be my partner?”  
Jaehee could feel MC’s hand trembling under her fingers. “Jaehee, I…” she began. “That sounds wonderful, but…”  
“If you’re worried about how they say you should never go into business with a friend, don’t be,” Jaehee tried to encourage her. “I’m sure our friendship is strong enough.” That was true, she knew.  
“Y-Yes, our… friendship…” As soon as the words left her lips, MC doubled over, hacking fiercely. The key dropped from her hand onto the floor.  
“MC?” Jaehee said concernedly. She placed her hand on MC’s back. “I’m getting worried… Can I please get you some water?”  
MC shook her head, covering her mouth with both hands and continuing to cough.  
Jaehee’s heart ached. “Please… you’re obviously not well.” She rubbed her hand back and forth on her friend’s back.  
“I…” MC began, but cut herself off with more coughs. “I’m sorry…” she finally choked out. “I have to go.” She shot Jaehee a pained look and hurried away in the direction of the restroom.  
Jaehee bit her lip and sighed, looking after MC. She hoped she wasn’t coming down with anything serious. Then again, if she was, she surely would have mentioned it.  
She stooped down to pick up the key off the floor and in doing so noticed a flower on the floor. Bewildered, she picked it up as well. She slipped the key into her pocket as she inspected the flower. It was a gardenia, a bright yellow color, with no stem. She assumed it had come from one of the flower arrangements in the party hall. A guest had probably tampered with one of them. Jaehee shook her head in disappointment and moved to throw the flower away.  
After tossing the flower in the nearest wastebasket, Jaehee began to walk around the room, making small talk with guests and making sure everything was in order. The whole time, however, she kept an eye open for MC. She was beginning to get worried now.  
Several minutes later, with still no sight of MC, Jaehee was passing by the long table with V’s photographs on it, admiring them, when movement on the other side of the room caught her eye. She looked up to see MC emerging from the hallway and entering the crowd of people. Jaehee smiled to herself and began to slowly make her way over to her.  
As she did, she could see the tall figure of Zen approaching MC. They smiled at each other and began to converse. Jaehee carefully maneuvered through the crowd, watching as MC and Zen spoke. She saw Zen suddenly break out in laughter, touching MC’s arm lightly. MC began to laugh as well, but just like earlier, her knees buckled and she hunched over, clutching her chest.  
Jaehee’s heart began to beat faster as she increased her pace, trying to get to MC. Zen placed a hand on her shoulder, a concerned expression on his face, but MC only coughed harder, holding her hands in front of her face to shield it from view.  
Jaehee was within earshot now. “MC!” she called out. MC lifted her head, her face pale. Their eyes met for a brief moment, but MC suddenly lurched forward and she clapped a hand to her mouth. She looked from Jaehee to Zen and back again, then abruptly turned and dashed out of the room.  
Almost breathless, Jaehee reached Zen. “What happened?” she asked hurriedly. “Is MC okay?”  
“I don’t know,” said Zen, a shocked look on his face. “We were just talking and she started coughing like crazy.”  
Jaehee furrowed her brow. “The same thing happened a few minutes ago. She said she thinks she’s coming down with something.”  
“Oh no…” Zen combed his fingers through his long ponytail. “I hope it’s nothing serious.”  
“Me too.” Jaehee nodded, her gaze downcast. She straightened up and looked back at Zen. “What were you laughing about?”  
“Oh…” Zen chuckled. “I said that I was sure that you gave me that coffee set because you saw that I had no nice things in my house.” He grinned. “I was right, wasn’t I?” He shifted his weight on his feet, but stopped as a puzzled expression came over him. “I stepped on something.” He reached down, picked something off the floor, and examined it.  
“What is it?”  
“A flower… There’s a couple here.” Zen held out his hand and showed Jaehee several light yellow hyacinth blossoms in his palm.  
Jaehee sighed. “I found one on the floor a few minutes ago. There must be a guest meddling with the flower arrangements.”  
Zen peered at the flowers more closely. “But… none of the flower arrangements have flowers like this…”  
Jaehee took a second look at the flowers. “You know, you are right.” She tapped her chin. “Come to think of it,” she said thoughtfully. “The other flower I found was a yellow gardenia. I don’t recall seeing any of those in the flower arrangements either…”  
“Hm…” Jaehee saw Zen’s expression shift ever so slightly from confusion to worry. “You don’t think…”  
“What?”  
Zen shook his head. “N-Nothing. I’m sure I’m wrong.” He closed his fist around the flowers and put them in his jacket pocket. “We should go check up on her though.”  
“MC?”  
“Yeah.”  
Jaehee nodded. “I agree. She really doesn’t seem to be feeling well. I might suggest that she go home and rest. I’d be willing to leave too to take care of her-” Jaehee interrupted herself. “Ah, right. The apartment address is classified.”  
Zen laughed. “And don’t you think you’ve done enough taking care of sick people for a while?”  
“Well, I wouldn’t refuse if it was MC who needed me.” Jaehee smiled. “She’s been such a good friend to me, I could never turn my back on her.” She brushed her bangs out of her eyes. “At any rate, yes, let’s go see how she’s doing.”  
The two began to walk in the direction MC had gone, but they hadn’t gone very far before they saw Jumin striding quickly towards them, approaching them with startling urgency.  
“Assis - Jaehee, there you are,” he said. “I’ve been looking for you.”  
“Mr. Han?” Jaehee asked, taken aback. “What is it?”  
For the first time that Jaehee had ever seen, Jumin seemed to not know what to say. “Jaehee, it - it’s MC. She… she’s been taken ill.”  
Behind her, Jaehee heard Zen gasp quietly. “Oh no…” he whispered.  
Jaehee was at a loss for words. “Wh-What?” she asked in shock. “What happened? Where is she?”  
“I’ll take you to her,” replied Jumin. “This way.” He led her through the crowd, easily parting the masses with an “excuse me” or “make way, please” here and there. Jaehee followed, Zen close behind.  
They exited the main party room and entered one of the hallways that ran along it. Jaehee could see 707 crouched over a motionless form on the floor. Her hands fluttered to her mouth.  
“MC…” She darted forward and knelt by the unconscious body of her friend. She lay on her side, her hair strewn wildly. Feeling the blood drain from her face, Jaehee turned frantically to 707. “Is she…?”  
“She’s breathing,” 707 reassured her, not looking up. “But… very weakly…”  
Jaehee looked desperately from 707 back to MC. “Wh-What happened?”  
“I don’t know…” 707 replied. “I ran into her here in the hallway and she was coughing a lot… She seemed to be having trouble breathing… and then…” He cleared his throat. “She passed out.”  
Jaehee had never seen 707 so serious. She was beginning to breathe hard herself. “W-We need to do something. We need to-”  
“I’ve already called the paramedics,” said Jumin. “Luciel came and found me right away. They’ll be here soon.”  
“Good,” said Zen. “Someone should find Yoosung.”  
“I’ll go.” 707 stood up, his gaze lingering on MC for a moment before hurrying out of the hallway.  
Jaehee sighed. “MC… She must have worked herself too hard preparing for the party.” She carefully brushed MC’s hair away from her face, revealing her pale skin and slightly open mouth. She might have been sleeping.  
A speck of color caught Jaehee’s eye as she looked at MC’s face. As she looked closer, she could see something yellow between MC’s scarcely parted lips. “There’s something in her mouth…”  
“Pardon?” asked Jumin. Jaehee didn’t reply, but reached out a hand and carefully separated MC’s lips more, grasping the object in her mouth and gently removing it.  
Her heart sank when she saw what it was. She held it in her hand, staring at it in disbelief. _No. No. No,_ was all she could think, over and over and over again.  
“What is it?” asked Zen, coming up behind her. “Jaehee?” He stopped as he looked over her shoulder and saw what she was holding. “Oh…”  
“No…” Jaehee whispered, tears starting to well in her eyes. “It… can’t be…”  
Zen gulped. “I hoped it wasn’t true…”  
“What is the problem?” asked Jumin. He moved closer to see too.  
Jaehee couldn’t move. She opened her mouth to try to say something, but her throat felt like it was closing up.  
“MC!” came Yoosung’s voice suddenly from a short distance away. He hurried over to her, 707 following behind. “What happened?” he asked anxiously, his voice cracking. “Is she going to be okay?” He stopped as he saw everybody looking down at Jaehee’s cupped hands. “What are you looking at?”  
Jaehee was still paralyzed. Jumin carefully reached down and took what had been in MC’s mouth from Jaehee’s hands, holding it up for Yoosung and 707 to see. A yellow chrysanthemum. “She is coughing up flowers. She has hanahaki disease.”  
The whole room was dead silent.  
“That’s… a whole flower too…” Yoosung finally spoke. “She must have… had it for a while…”  
Zen placed a hand on Jaehee’s shoulder, who was still staring at her empty hands. “Jaehee?” he asked quietly. “Are you alright?”  
“She…” Jaehee began faintly. “She must have known… Why didn’t she say anything?” She looked up at Zen. “Who could it be for?”  
Zen shook his head. “I don’t know… it might be a member…”  
Jaehee’s face fell. “Yes… that’s possible…” A tear slid down her cheek as she looked down at her senseless friend’s ashy face. “MC…” She took MC’s clammy hand in her own. “Oh, poor MC…”  
“I… I just can’t believe it…” murmured 707, who had been quiet for some time.  
“We have no time for this,” said Jumin. “We must call off the party immediately. The paramedics will be here shortly.” His gaze swept across all of the concerned faces in the room. “Someone will need to make an announcement to the guests.”  
No one spoke. The members of RFA were motionless with shock and dread.  
Jumin nodded. “Right. I shall do it. The rest of you, some other things need to be done. Zen, you go outside and meet the ambulance when it arrives. Yoosung, stand outside the first door to this hallway and make sure no one enters. Luciel, you take the other. And Jaehee, you stay here with MC. Does everyone understand?”  
Everyone nodded solemnly.  
“Very good. Then let’s go.”  
Each person silently moved into position, following Jumin out the door, who was mumbling something about “if only V were here”.  
Jaehee was left alone in the hallway, still kneeling in the same spot beside MC, still holding her hand in both of her own.  
Hanahaki disease? The _late stages_ of hanahaki disease? Her best friend, dying? It was almost more than Jaehee could believe.  
From the other side of the wall, she could hear Jumin’s muffled voice speaking into the microphone. “Your attention please. I regret to report that one of the hosts of the RFA party has been taken seriously ill. The paramedics have been called and the situation is under control. The party must now unfortunately end. Please make your way towards the exit. Thank you for your understanding.”  
Hearing it spoken so plainly, Jaehee’s heartbeat pounded in her ears. She gripped MC’s hand tighter and rubbed her thumb back and forth on it, barely hearing the clamour of the guests behind the wall.  
Just then, MC seemed to stir. Her eyelids blinked open and she drew in a raspy breath.  
“MC?” Jaehee asked hopefully.  
MC’s eyes met Jaehee’s and her open mouth turned up at the corners. “Jaehee…” She turned onto her back, looking straight up into Jaehee’s eyes. She smiled ever so slightly. “I guess there’s no point in trying to keep it a secret anymore, huh?” she asked, squeezing Jaehee’s hand. She coughed roughly, pulling a red tulip out of her mouth.  
Jaehee smiled back, blinking through her tears. “You… You h… You’re…”  
“I know.”  
“The… The ambulance will be here soon. Are you… I…” Jaehee was at a loss for words. She finally settled on: “You didn’t tell me.”  
“I didn’t want you to worry.”  
“Oh MC…” Jaehee wiped at her streaming eyes. “I’m so sorry.”  
MC coughed weakly. “Don’t be sorry.”  
The piercing wail of the ambulance began to be heard over the hubbub of the departing guests. “Would…” Jaehee gulped. “Would you mind telling me… who it’s for?”  
“Who… it’s-” MC interrupted herself with more violent coughs. A cascade of small white flowers, arbutus blossoms, spilled over her lips. The coughing didn’t stop, and MC’s breathing became more and more labored before she finally fell back again, unconscious.  
Jaehee’s face crumpled. Tears started to pour more rapidly down her face. She tried her hardest to keep her composure, to keep from breaking down. It was barely working.  
The door abruptly swung open. “This way,” came Zen’s voice and he hurried inside, followed by a team of paramedics wheeling a gurney. He approached Jaehee. Seeing her look even more distressed than when he had left, he asked: “Did something happen?”  
“She-” Jaehee’s voice cracked. “She regained consciousness for a moment, but…” She looked back at MC’s unconscious form, her lip trembling.  
The paramedics moved in close as Jumin, 707, and Yoosung came in behind. A nurse addressed Jaehee. “Ma’am, I’m going to have to ask you to stand back.”  
Jaehee nodded silently, slowly standing up as the emergency responders surrounded MC. She felt Zen wrap a comforting arm around her shoulders.  
MC was being rolled away on the gurney almost sooner than Jaehee could blink. She followed the responders outside with the rest of RFA, her legs feeling as heavy as lead. Her head was still in a fog as the members climbed into Jumin’s limousine to follow the ambulance to the hospital.  
The car was silent the whole way there. _Who could it be?_ kept repeating in Jaehee’s mind. Of course, it didn’t really matter, she knew. But she couldn’t help wondering who, just in case of the small chance that it was someone who returned MC’s feelings for him.  
The RFA members entered the hospital and were permitted to go straight to MC’s room. As a nurse escorted them down the hall, Jaehee watched each member walking slowly with her, silently except for the tapping of their shoes on the polished hospital floor, and all seemingly lost in thought.  
“Here we are.” The nurse opened a door and there on the hospital bed, a tube in her nose and a needle in her arm, lay MC. She opened her eyes and turned her head at the sound of the door. A heart monitor beeped slowly but steadily.  
“MC!” Yoosung broke the long silence.  
MC smiled faintly. “Hey everybody…”  
Seeing her lie there, so frail and weak and exhausted, where she was and what was bound to happen suddenly sunk in for Jaehee. Tears once again began to brim in her eyes as she and the other members entered the room. MC stretched out her hands towards them, and, as they gathered around her bed, took each member’s hands in turn. First Yoosung, who swallowed hard, his lip trembling. Then 707, who looked the most despondent Jaehee had ever seen him. Then Zen, who lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it gently. Then Jumin, whose large hands wrapped around MC’s small ones. And finally Jaehee, who barely met MC’s eyes through her tears and felt a small squeeze from her friend’s hand.  
The nurse watched from the doorway. “I’ll let you have some time alone,” he said before closing the door with a soft click.  
No one said anything for a long moment, gazing at MC in melancholy. Finally, MC cleared her throat, spitting out a pink carnation. “Come on, you guys,” she said. “I’m not dead _yet._ ”  
Everyone in the room laughed a bittersweet laugh.  
“How…” 707 gulped. “How long have you known?”  
“A couple days,” MC replied. “I wasn’t surprised.”  
“May I remind you that surgery is always an option,” Jumin pointed out. “It is possible to have the flowers surgically removed.”  
“But doesn’t that take all the memories of the person away too?” Zen asked.  
Jumin nodded. “It does. But-” he turned to MC. “You would have your life.”  
MC shook her head. “Not worth it.”  
Jumin sighed. “I suppose no one can force you.” He ran a hand along his silk tie. “But I cannot understand.”  
“...I think I can,” said Yoosung quietly.  
Jaehee had still said nothing. She was afraid that if she opened her mouth, she would burst into tears. “MC…” she finally said. “I just… don’t know what to say…”  
MC smiled back at her. “Then why don’t you ask that question again?”  
“What? Oh. Yes…” Jaehee began. She brushed her hair out of her eyes. “Will you tell us… who it’s for?”  
“Yeah, tell us,” said 707. “Are you sure it isn’t somebody who feels the same way?”  
“I’m sure.”  
“Please don’t jump to conclusions, MC,” Jumin entreated. “Any man would consider himself lucky to have you.”  
MC’s coughs produced another yellow gardenia. “Well, that’s part of the problem, isn’t it.”  
Zen’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”  
“Is it… a member?” Yoosung asked.  
MC smiled softly and nodded weakly. “Yes.”  
The room stood stock still in stunned silence.  
“...Who?” 707 finally asked in a barely audible voice.  
MC sighed, and Jaehee could see her gaze sweeping across the troubled faces of the members of RFA. Jaehee held her breath, listening for the name that she both wanted and didn’t want to hear, the name of the person who was the reason her dear friend was lying on a hospital bed at this very moment.  
MC’s eyes came to rest on Jaehee’s face and stayed there. Her eyes, though dull, shone with an internal light and her face was an inexplicable mixture of longing and acceptance, but not a touch of regret.  
“Jaehee.”  
Jaehee’s heart sank all the way down to her shoes. The blood drained from her face as her hearing faded into a distant buzzing and her vision became blurry except for MC’s face. She hadn’t even _fathomed_ the idea that the one for whom MC had unrequited feelings might be herself. The thought had not once crossed her mind. She began to feel lightheaded. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Tears began to stream down her face yet again.  
MC’s loud coughing brought Jaehee’s senses back to reality slightly. MC spit out several purple hyacinth blossoms, then looked back up at Jaehee, who still could not speak.  
“Should…” 707 began, his voice cracking. “Should we let you two talk alone?”  
MC nodded. “That would be good. Although-” she interrupted herself with another hacking cough. “If anyone has anything they want to say to me, they’d better say it now.”  
There was quiet for a moment. Then Yoosung abruptly stepped forward. He leaned over the bed and wrapped his arms around MC, and she did the same. “You’re a good friend, MC,” he said in a voice that sounded like it would shatter at any moment.  
“You too, Yoosung,” replied MC. “Thank you.” Yoosung stood up, sniffled and wiped hastily at his nose, then stepped back.  
Seven approached MC then, leaning close to her and whispering something in her ear. Hearing it, MC reached up and pulled him close to her, whispering something back to him. He closed his eyes and folded his arms around her before straightening back up and shoving his hands in his pockets.  
Taking MC’s hands, Zen said, misty-eyed: “You’ve made all of us better, MC.”  
MC kissed the back of Zen’s hands. “My turn,” she said, smiling at him. “Thank you, Zen.”  
Jumin said nothing, but clasped MC’s hands in both of his own, giving her a warm, deep look that would have looked like his usual steely expression to anyone else. MC smiled faintly, squeezing his hands. “And,” she added. “Tell V I said thank you too.” Jumin nodded solemnly, giving MC’s hands one final squeeze before letting them slip from his own.  
Jaehee stood immobile this entire time, still barely able to comprehend that she was the reason MC was now bidding each RFA member, and soon herself, goodbye without saying the words.  
When the door closed softly behind the last member, it was just Jaehee and MC left in the room. There was complete silence except for MC’s strained breaths.  
Jaehee broke down. She fell to her knees next to MC’s bed and sobbed. “MC!” she finally wailed after minutes of not speaking. “I’m so sorry!”  
MC’s somber expression was broken by coughs, and she pulled a pink cyclamen flower out of her mouth. “Please don’t be sorry.”  
“What can I do?” she pleaded. “There must be something.”  
MC looked Jaehee straight in the eyes. “Do you love me?”  
“I…” Jaehee’s throat seized up. She took MC’s hand. “MC… you’re my dear friend, of course I love you. But…” Jaehee looked at the woman in the bed and she tried. She tried so hard to save her friend in the only way that was possible. She tried to love MC the way she loved her.  
“But…”  
But she wouldn’t. She couldn’t. She didn’t. Her face crumpled in defeat.  
MC’s expression was still soft. “Then there’s nothing anyone can do.”  
“Get the surgery!” Jaehee begged. “Please… I don’t want you to die.”  
MC shook her head. “I’m sorry, but… never.” She coughed and spit out a handful of yellow primroses. “Knowing you was the best thing that ever happened to me. I wouldn’t trade my memories of you for anything.” MC reached up a hand and placed it on Jaehee’s cheek, which was wet with tears. “This world doesn’t let me love you. I would rather leave it than give up my love for you.”  
Jaehee blinked her waterlogged eyes and placed her hand on top of MC’s. “But why?” she asked quietly. “Why me?”  
“Why not you?” MC smiled wistfully. “You are the kindest, strongest, smartest, bravest, most beautiful person I have ever met.” She rubbed a smooth thumb across Jaehee’s cheek. “How could I not fall in love with you?” She suddenly pulled her hands back and covered her mouth with them as she coughed. When she took them away, they held a red rose.  
Seeing it, Jaehee cursed herself. “I’m sorry…” she said quietly. “This is all my fault, I-”  
“Jaehee, no.” MC shook her head. “Please don’t blame yourself. Please. My feelings aren’t your fault and neither are yours. Please. I… I wouldn’t be able to stand it if you thought that this was your fault.”  
“O-Okay…” Jaehee replied shakily. She sighed. “How long have you had… it?”  
“I could tell you all about it… but I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”  
Jaehee shook her head. “No, tell me. I want to know.”  
“Okay…” MC took a shaky breath which turned into a cough. “I always thought you were beautiful, ever since Seven sent your picture.” She smiled. “And you only got better as I got to know you. I knew I loved you within a couple of days of knowing you. I knew that was a really short time… but when I listened to your voice, I knew what I was feeling couldn’t possibly be anything else.”  
Jaehee was silent as MC talked, her lip trembling and her breath quivering.  
“The first time I coughed up a petal was exactly a week after I joined RFA. I remember specifically.” MC’s eyes drifted to the ceiling in recollection. “It was when I was saying to Jumin that he shouldn’t transfer the coffee project since you worked so hard on it. He said: ‘Since when did MC become Assistant Kang’s spokesperson?’” She sighed. “And the thought that instinctively came to my mind was: ‘Since I fell in love with her.’ And then I started coughing.”  
Jaehee remembered the moment. If she’d had any idea what had been going through MC’s mind at that instant…  
“I had been sure you didn’t feel the same. The petals didn’t come at a huge surprise to me. I kept coughing up petals for the next few days, mostly at little things, but more and more every time.” She chuckled softly. “One time was when Seven and I were talking about all the things that are possible with smartphones and he said: ‘Seeing you dating Jaehee on your smartphone like this… Oops. Mistake. I was gonna say become friends, not date…’” She coughed and spit out an arbutus flower. The pulsing of the heart monitor was beginning to slow. “He’s a funny guy. Tell him that for me.”  
Her head seemed to sink down further into the pillow. “I coughed up a whole flower for the first time yesterday morning. It was… something you said.” She looked at Jaehee concernedly. “Are you sure you want me to tell you?”  
Jaehee nodded.  
MC took a deep breath. “You might remember it. We were talking on the phone and you said: “...Yes, I should tell you. I like you, a lot. It’s not a romantic feeling, but we are aware of each other and respect each other… It’s a polite kind of liking but I really like you…’ It must have been hearing from your mouth that your feelings weren’t the same as mine that did it. ”  
Jaehee winced. She did remember saying that. And she also remembered a muffled squeaking sound she had heard on the other line after she had said it.  
“I managed to keep it in until you hung up the phone, and then I coughed and coughed and finally spit out a whole red camellia. I knew then that I didn’t have long.” MC turned her head to look back at Jaehee. “I only hoped that I would last long enough to be able to see you at the party.” Her coughs echoed in the small room. “But I think…” she choked. “I think I have to go soon…”  
Jaehee knew she was right but, at the same time, knew she wouldn’t truly believe it until it happened. “I’m…” she faltered. “I’m glad… I got to see you…”  
MC smiled gently. “Me too.” Her tender expression was shattered as she heaved with coughs. Flowers spilled out of her mouth, chrysanthemums, roses, gardenias, camellias, a yellow azalea. She exhaled and sank down weakly onto the pillow.  
“MC... “ Jaehee croaked, barely able to speak. She had to say something though. Before it was too late. “You… You’re the best friend I could ever ask for. You changed my life so much and…” Jaehee’s voice cracked as she forced the words through her throat. “I am a better and happier person because of you.”  
MC squeezed Jaehee’s hand. “That’s all I ever wanted.” Her dull eyes gazed into Jaehee’s, her eyelids seeming heavier by the second. “As long as I was able to make you happy, even for just a little while, then I’m… I’m okay.”  
Jaehee clutched MC’s hand tighter. “...I’ll miss you,” she gulped. “I… I won’t forget you.”  
“I’d like that very much.” MC covered her mouth with her hand and it held several yellow sweet peas when she drew it away. Her eyes fixed on Jaehee’s. “I love you, Jaehee, and I’ll keep loving you…”  
Her eyelids sliding slowly closing, MC’s hold on Jaehee’s hand began to weaken. Panic seized Jaehee, her heart rate accelerating frantically as MC’s slowed. _Please don’t go!_ she wanted to plead as tears poured out of her eyes once more. _Please don’t leave me. Not you too._ She buried her face in the hospital blanket as her friend slipped through her fingers. _I’m sorry… I’m so, so sorry…_  
MC exhaled a final shallow breath as the beeps of the heart monitor slowly ground to a stop.  
The high pitched tone was deafening.

**Author's Note:**

> This is basically a big pile of salt directed at Cheritz that Jaehee's route isn't romantic. I did not play this game to get friendzoned by the LOML, god dang it!


End file.
